


just in time

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Age Difference, Community: comment_fic, F/M, Fluff, Het, Rare Pair, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 10:58:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10897941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: Forty eight hours locked in STAR Labs with no coffee has a bad effect on Caitlin.





	just in time

**Author's Note:**

> Theme : hard to handle  
> Prompt : The Flash, Caitlin Snow/Joe West, Without her coffee Caitlin can be a bit cranky.  
> http://comment-fic.livejournal.com/815824.html?thread=103429584#t103429584

When Joe walks into the Cortex, he can't miss the lingering sense of tension in the air, the way you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. Wally and Cisco are standing in one corner, heads together as they mutter quietly, and a quick glance in the other direction shows him Caitlin standing on the other side of the medbay door, sorting through instruments with a distinctly murderous look on her face. 

Joe blinks, extends his arm and the tray of coffee, still steaming fresh from Jitters. "Looks like I'm here just in time," he hears himself say and Cisco whirls around to face him, his eyes widening to almost cartoonish effect when he sees what Joe is carrying. 

"Oh, man, are you a sight for sore eyes." He sounds as relieved as he looks and he's across the room in seconds, almost as fast as Barry. He grabs a cup, almost upends the entire tray and any colour in his cheeks that remained after almost forty eight hours in STAR Labs leaches out. "Phew," he says after he helps right it. 

There's only one conclusion Joe can reach from that and he raises one eyebrow even as he lowers his voice. "That bad?" 

"Worse." Cisco takes a long gulp of coffee, winces when it burns his mouth. When his eyes fall down to the remaining cups on the tray, he manages a crooked smile. "Though those might just be enough to soothe the savage beast." 

Joe's about to tell him not to talk about Caitlin like that, even if he's doing it in jest, but Wally speaks before he can. "Well, two had better do because one of those has my name all over it." Joe's about to object but Wally snags the cup before he can and he takes a gulp that's the equal of the one Cisco had taken. "I have more than earned it." 

"I'll drink to that." Cisco holds up his cup and Wally tips his against it as if in toast. Then the two of them exchange a significant look with each other, then towards the other end of the room. "And now... I think we shall adjourn to the Speed Lab." 

Cisco might not be a speedster but he still manages to vanish as quickly as Wally did, leaving Joe to make the long walk across the Cortex. The closer he gets, the more the temperature in the room dips and he feels goosebumps rising on his arms. Even Caitlin's hair seems a shade or two whiter than it usually is and he sighs as he steps towards her, extends the tray. "I come bearing gifts," he says and he knows he's in real trouble when she looks at him and doesn't smile. 

"Let me guess," she says, her voice icy. Not Killer Frost icy, thank goodness, but definitely not the voice he knows and loves. "The Chuckle Brothers over there-" She glances over his shoulder, sees no-one there and shakes her head. "Or not over there called you and told you I was being mean and nasty and scaring them."

"Nope." It happens to be true. "You guys have been holed up in here fighting the good fight, not seeing daylight, or moonlight, your own bed... eating those godawful pizza pockets you insist on..." He thinks he sees a twitch on her lips, a lightening of her eyes. "I just missed you. I wanted to see you." 

Her shoulders relax but there's still a reserve there. "And the coffee?"

"I figured they'd give me hell if I brought you flowers." A joke this time, but with the distinct element of truth. "Plus, I figured you'd rather have the coffee."

That, at last, brings forth a real smile. "You know me too well." He grins as he hands her a cup, his grin growing wider as she takes a sip, closes her eyes and beams. "Oh, that's good." Another sip and he can see the tension leaving her body. "What would I do without you?"

He chooses not to answer the question, instead asking, "You gonna share with me or..." The look of horror on her face makes him laugh out loud. "I take it that's an or." 

Caitlin looks vaguely guilty. "If you really want some coffee..." She couldn't sound less enthusiastic if she tried, bites her lip as Joe walks towards her, lays a hand on her shoulder, fingers kneading gently. 

"Don't worry, it's all yours," he tells her. Her shoulder relaxes again under his hand and he slides it down her back, uses it to bring her closer to him. "Besides I'm sure you'll make it up to me..." 

She tilts her head as she smiles up at him, his Caitlin at last. "You've got something in mind?"

"I'm sure I'll come up with something..." He lets the double entendre hang in the air between them and she laughs as he brings his lips to hers and then there's no laughing any more.


End file.
